Ataraxia

∞|Chapter 5: Second Life|∞

I woke up staring at a cave ceiling, lit by fire-fly lanterns. I groaned and rolled on my side, only to see a beautiful elf.

"Who are you?" is what managed to escape my lips before I could think.

The elf turned to me and smiled,

"I'm Eowin, the elf of Alfhiem. You?"

"I-I.." I stuttered, "I'm Ash, but I don't really know what I am."

"Oh," the elf giggled, "The Able must have found you then."

"The Able?" I asked, curious.

"Yeah," said Eowin, "Lon story short, it's a creature that roams the real world, traumatizing people who have a certain fate into the fantasy world."

"Oh," I replied, shocked.

"Anyway, I'll leave you here for a little bit for privacy," she smiled and walked out the door, closing it behind her.

I sighed in astonishment, resting my eyes as I listened to the sound of silence. Then there was a knock on the door, and the guy that helped me in the cave the night before walked in,

"Sorry for disturbing you, it seems you have awaken,"

No duh.

"I was panicking when you passed out on a spot."

"Thank you, I-people, don't really treat me right, in the human world. I get bullied every day, it's not fun," I pouted, "but a guy fended off the bully today, so I'm glad."

"Ah, drama-land," sighed the man, and he walked over and sat in the chair across from the bed; the one that Eowin was sitting in earlier, "Well, looks don't matter here, so bullying never happens."

"That would be nice," I sighed and sat up in the bed, staring at the different patterns on the quilt.

"Even my wife's a troll, but she's beautiful on the inside, that's all that matters."

I turned to face him,

"Are there any other creatures here too?" I asked.

"Any creature you can think of," he stated, a grin appearing on his face.

"Okay," I said, fumbling with the edge of the quilt, "What kind of creature am I?"

"Just from your skin tone and your eyes, you could possibly be angel. Either an angel from Alfhiem or Uden."

'Oh yea, Eowin's from Alfhiem,' I remembered.

"What's the difference?" I asked.

He stood up, and started pacing the room, clearing his throat twice,

"Creatures from Alfhiem are those that help the wounded, or those that do the cleaning, cooking, help out the lords of their region. Uden is the complete opposite. We go out; we hunt the food, assassinate, and protect the land. Got to wait for those wings of yours to grow before I can tell you. Long story short, if they're white, you're Alfhiem, if they're black, you're Uden."

I nodded at the helpful information, letting it all sink in. I fumbled with the edge of the quilt and stared at my hands.

"Can you tell me a little bit more about Eowin?" I asked, changing the subject, "I want to know more about her."

"Sure, um," said the man, fumbling for his words, "She's over 50 years of age."

I choked in shock and surprise, that my jaw dropped, and my eyes widened.

"She's alse been in 3 of the huge wars that happened here 40 years ago, way before I was alive. She literally saved almost the entire village of Alfhiem with her healing powers."

"Wow," I said, and looked back down to my hands, "That's impressive."

After a moment of silence, Ahburn changed the subject,

"Well, I best be going. We're low on food supply, so I have to go to my job."

He stopped pacing, walked to the door, and stopped abruptly before he walked out,

"Oh, yeah, um," he stumbled over his words, "I'm Ahburn."

He gave me a thumbs-up, and left the room. I sighed and lay back in the bed, putting my arms behind my head, and stared at the ceiling.

It wasn't much later until Eowin crept into the room, peeking around the door to make sure she hadn't disturbed me.

"You start today," she chimed.

"I what?"

She walked over to the bed, crouched down, and took my hand,

"Your adventure starts today!" she smiled hugely.